So, as some of us know, hosting a server can be a pain. When creating a server, I often looked at PC games such as Halo CE and wondered, "Wait, why do I have to go through all this portforwarding ********, when games like Halo CE have server hosting and searching right in the client. And THEY don't need portforwarding!"

So here's my proposal. Minecraft, ditch all your portforwarding and external clients and whatever, and use the game client itself to host servers.

I made a quick little gui in Paintbrush like 10 seconds ago to show you what I mean.

Basically, from the main menu, you click Multiplayer. From Multiplayer, you get two options; "Join Server" or "Host Server".

From Join Server, you get two more options; "Internet" and "LAN".

From "Create Server" you get a page that would look like this;

When you click "Join Server", weather it be on Internet or LAN, you would get a screen like this:

When you highlight a server, the rules and connected players shows up. What I forgot was to add a box that shows the admin of the server and whatnot.

Now, from this screen, all the servers that are running can be seen. You should be able to filter as well, so you can get right down to the server your looking for. Also, this could work with a friends list menu added to the game. Where you can see what server they're on and when they're online and stuff as well.

Of course, this would be for those who just want to set up a quick server to show off their stuff. Bukkit and 3rd party programs can still be used outside of the ingame gui to make dedicated servers that would still show up in the server list.

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The Buddy List [V5]

Now, I just came up with a way to seamlessly interweave your offline and online experiences of minecraft through my little GUI's I've been coming up with. With the "Buddy List", you can see what all your friends are up too Online and Offline with the click of a button. Basically, you hit the key that engages the buddy list, and it rolls up in your HUD. Your Buddy List will contain all of the friends you've added via another GUI I've come up with, called the Player List. Now, I know what you're all thinking; "DTroll, Player list is usedd already brah, /list maaan". And I know, but this is a more interesting way to interact with people on your server.

But back to the Buddy List. When you click on one of your friends that's online, a window will pop up and ask if you want to join the server they're in. If you hit "Yes", you'll go directly into the server, no fuss.

Here's a basic look at the Buddy List:

And here's a look at the in-game Player List:

The reason I think this would be good for Minecraft, is that it would be easier for friends to connect to eachother, thus making the game more user friendly and open to new players. Most people starting off dont know how to use SMP, and this would make it easier for those new players to get right in the game, and get into the community aspect of Minecraft itself.

All I'm saying, is that it would be easier for friends to connect to eachother, thus making the game more user friendly and open to new players. Most people starting off dont know how to use SMP, and this would make it easier for those new players to get right in the game, and get into the community aspect of Minecraft itself.

This looks great and all, but i think theres a few more things that you forgot to mention....

How will these servers be saved? I'm assuming you'd be expecting the main server creation/hosting would take place with this method, so how would the server be taken down and then accessed at a later date?
Also, how would a server stay up 24/7? would the person just leave their computer on with their browser open? would they have to leave their player in game so that the server could stay on?
One more thing- how would it be modded? where could the properties of the server be edited?

I hope these questions can be answered, it will make the process of this becoming a reality much easier for you :biggrin.gif:

If you want a "Private Server" it's the same way you make a regular server, except you just tell the people you want to let on, the IP Adress or you can use a whitelist

I think the way to set up servers right now are okay, I don't think there should be a way to do so attached to vanilla minecraft (or they would have attached the Minecraft Server Thing and Minecraft Together)

The Only Thing I wouldn't mind would be some kind of buddy list, but maybe that could be a 3rd Party Program or something, idk

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I will be using them soon

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This looks great and all, but i think theres a few more things that you forgot to mention....

How will these servers be saved? I'm assuming you'd be expecting the main server creation/hosting would take place with this method, so how would the server be taken down and then accessed at a later date?
Also, how would a server stay up 24/7? would the person just leave their computer on with their browser open? would they have to leave their player in game so that the server could stay on?
One more thing- how would it be modded? where could the properties of the server be edited?

I hope these questions can be answered, it will make the process of this becoming a reality much easier for you :biggrin.gif:

Well, I had some Ideas on this as well. If you want your server back up on a later date, the level.dat that you chose to create the server could be saved in another folder in your ".minecraft" directory. Like "Online Saves" or something of the sort. Thus making it simpler to run the server, and start up right where you left off if the server ever had to shut down for a bit. Also, in the folder we would have hourly backups, for those anti-grief servers out there.

A server would stay up 24/7 much like how they do right now. If you want a dedicated server, run bukkit and everything. If all goes to plan, your server should show up in the list too. Maybe with a custom tag that shows its dedicated. Another way would have an option in the Create Game menu to run the server even if no-ones in in, therefor even if you leave the server still runs.

The game can be modded from the Create Game section. When i update the thread again I'm adding a section for plugin support right on the main screen.

Although, let me be clear, this was just a simple idea to replace the simple minecraft_server.jar file for hosting simple servers. Like I said at the top somewhere, you should still be able to run bukkit and plugins through it for you crazy server hosters out there.

If you want a "Private Server" it's the same way you make a regular server, except you just tell the people you want to let on, the IP Adress or you can use a whitelist

I think the way to set up servers right now are okay, I don't think there should be a way to do so attached to vanilla minecraft (or they would have attached the Minecraft Server Thing and Minecraft Together)

The Only Thing I wouldn't mind would be some kind of buddy list, but maybe that could be a 3rd Party Program or something, idk

Remember Nath, this game, and this idea, is a work in progress. I'd love too see server hosting more accessible, because some people don't understand the basics of portforwarding. The way right now works, but, it shouldn't be like this near the full release of a game thats been in development for a year or so now. Minecraft needs a central hub for all things multiplayer, considering most people consider it a fundamental part of the game. This would make online more useable and thus, more people would be online, making EVERYBODY happy <3